


stained silver

by boltlightning



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-DDD, Reunion, but just a little angst don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 20:52:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2887493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boltlightning/pseuds/boltlightning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>I am only one person,</i> she wants to tell the universe, the Fates, anyone who will listen, <i>and I cannot suffer for so many.</i> And the universe answers with, <i>but you must, for there is no one left to bear your burden.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	stained silver

When the call comes in from Radiant Garden that _someone’s here, and he’s hurt_ , Aqua is expecting the worse. The hurt are not infrequent these days, no more so than the wounded or the deceased. Her duty as a Keyblade Master is to not shy from these victims of war, but to meet and help them. 

She rarely sleeps now. She travels the world on patrols in her new armor, since her original armor from the first battle with the darkness had been lost. She goes where Yen Sid tells her to go without thinking much of it. War does not allow free thought; there is simply too much to do.

When the sky is dark, when the hurt sleep and the wounded dream and the deceased drift, Aqua allows herself to regret. She regrets the day of their Mark of Mastery exam; she regrets not objecting to the master’s decision. She regrets not being more honest with Terra, and not following Ven more closely, and not being strong enough to save them both. There are even nights where she regrets becoming a Master, because the war is going terribly and there are still so many battles she must fight and be responsible for.

 _I am only one person,_ she wants to tell the universe, the Fates, anyone who will listen, _and I cannot suffer for so many._ And the universe answers with, _but you must, for there is no one left to bear your burden._

So when the call comes in from Radiant Garden that _someone’s here, and he’s hurt_ , Aqua is expecting more pain. She is expecting another sleepless night and another bad report to bring back to Yen Sid and King Mickey. She disengages her armor and steps off her glider in the center of the garden, walking slowly to stall her prolonged grief.

The man named Leon greets her at the door of the old wizard’s house, and he gestures her in with a silent, professional nod. Aqua steps into the house, which is absolutely _stifling_ from the fire roaring in the corner. She looks over to the offending furnace and feels her heart freeze in her chest.

Sitting on the bed near the furnace is a man she once knew.

She cannot move fast enough. Her armored shoes are suddenly clunky and obtrusive. She nearly trips over a stack of Merlin’s books as she staggers into the chair beside the bed where the man sits, his face in his hands.

“Hey, hey!” she calls, touching his arm gently. He snatches his elbow back as though he’s been shocked. “It’s me, it’s Aqua. You have to remember, it’s me!”

And the man looks up, with startled, mismatched eyes that gain sudden clarity. One is colored his standard stormy blue; the other, a burnished gold. “Aqua,” he says, in a raspy voice that hasn’t been used in over ten years.

She takes his face in her hands and assesses him, every little feature of his face. It is undeniably Terra. He is here, but he’s hurt. Once proud and handsome, his face is gaunt and skin pale. The shadows under his eyes (which are the right shape, the wrong colors) are nearly bruises now, they are so dark. Aqua smiles, though she feels a sob barricading her throat. His hair, his hair - it is its normal brown again, but it has been marred by silver streaks, which are entirely random and rough in their placement. She runs one hand through the locks, pushing his bangs back. The silver stays.

“Oh, Terra,” she manages to say. “You’ve seen so much.”

He hesitates for a moment, she can see it in his expression, but he presses one of his hands against hers. It’s his damaged arm, the one on which he used to wear his armor  - it is now almost entirely wrapped in bandages, which are tied loosely around his limb. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I will set things right, I promise.”

“It’s alright, Terra.” But it’s not alright, she thinks, not really - Ven is still asleep and Xehanort is hurting and wounding and killing. But Terra is here, though he is still half-Xehanort and so, so hurt. “Honestly, it’s - we’ll do it together.” 

And abruptly, Terra is wrapping his arms around her body, resting his forehead against hers. She is more confident now that her face is hidden, even from him, so the tears begin to spill over. “Oh, I missed you,” he murmurs. “You and Ven - even as a Heartless, and a Nobody, I never forgot.”

She’s aware she’s shaking in his grip, so she leans forward to complete the embrace. His chest is still muscular and firm, she notes, though he’s clearly lost a lot of mass in his battle with the darkness. It feels good to have someone solid to whom she can cling. “Don’t leave me,” she sighs into his streaked hair, unable to stop the trembling. “Please, never again.”

He doesn’t reply, but she feels his arms squeeze her tighter and knows that Terra is here to stay, finally, finally.

They huddle together for what seems like hours until a call comes in from the Sorcerer’s Tower that _Riku’s here, and he’s got news_. Terra is interested to hear that Riku is now a Master (“And I’m not?” he teases, one half-silver eyebrow raised), and expresses his interest in accompanying her to the Tower.

The war wages around them even as they travel to the Tower, and Aqua tells Terra all about the hurt and wounded and deceased. He accepts the situation with his usual calm sincerity, though he is still weak from his trials. He runs a hand through his stained hair, notes that he would benefit from a haircut, and walks by her side to receive Riku’s news from the ever-terrible war.

**Author's Note:**

> i've been playing BbS and fell into this ship by accident. it's tearing me apart, and i couldn't get this scene out of my head, so there you go.


End file.
